F Is for Americans Getting Fatter

July 7, 2011 by Reed Abelson New York Times

A new report issued on Thursday says Americans have become increasingly obese over the last 20 years. The report, by Trust for America’s Health, a nonpartisan advocacy group, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, tracks the level of obesity in the 50 states since 1990.

Titled “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011,” the report offers a stark picture of how much more obese Americans are today than they were two decades ago, and it offers numerous policy recommendations to address the problem. The costs of obesity, whether in rising health care coverage for companion diseases like diabetes or for wider seats on buses and airplanes, have been documented throughout the course of the nation’s epidemic.